What is always annoying about these settlements is the the company almost always admits no wrongdoing but settles for a payout. Pretty good scam, if you can do it.

Imaging if Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer admitted no wrongdoing, but still were sentenced.

This sort of thing allows corporations to delude consumers and themselves that they did nothing wrong, and it was just pesky regulators and conned consumers doing a shakedown on the poor, innocent corporation.

Technically, they could have. It's called pleading "no contest". The main difference is that, I believe, a criminal guilty plea can be referenced in a civil proceeding, and a "no contest" plea cannot be.

I guess the reason it annoys me so much is that corporations continually refuse to accept responsibilities for their actions, even when they often know they were breaking the law at the time. If the MAGA-wearing crowd really wants to Make America Great Again, how about starting with honesty and integrity? If you break the law, take responsibility for it, and make sure you don't do it again.

Of course, when your standard bearer is a pathological liar, it's kinda hard to claim you are all in favor of honesty and integrity.

What you have is a spoiled movie star with the science education of a county dog catcher trying to push her wishful thinking on everybody.

County dog catchers everywhere have lodged a complaint against you for insinuating them lacking in science education. They would like to point out that they know enough science to know vaginal eggs are... well, bull shit.

As sad as it is, I get the vibe that she really does believe in this crap. I wouldn't be surprised if she does use them. What you have is a spoiled movie star with the science education of a county dog catcher trying to push her wishful thinking on everybody. This simplified universe she lives in, where all kinds of terrible health problems can be cured with folk medicine (1%) and unicorn farts (the other 99%), is probably a lot happier place than reality.

I would disagree with this. When questioned, she seemed to lack familiarity or knowledge about her own products. I think she's talented at forseeing and manipulating industry trends, but she's not actually interested in the woo beyond what it can do for her bank account.

I'll bet she'll be the first to see a doctor when she has genuine health issues.

What you have is a spoiled movie star with the science education of a county dog catcher trying to push her wishful thinking on everybody.

County dog catchers everywhere have lodged a complaint against you for insinuating them lacking in science education. They would like to point out that they know enough science to know vaginal eggs are... well, bull shit.

I'm reasonably sure that belief in alchemy contradicts the association of county dog catchers' point. Vaginal eggs cannot turn into bull manure, that's not how this works! That is, unless these dog catchers have discovered some form of radioactive decay occurring in vaginal eggs that turns the jade into carbon chains.

As sad as it is, I get the vibe that she really does believe in this crap. I wouldn't be surprised if she does use them. What you have is a spoiled movie star with the science education of a county dog catcher trying to push her wishful thinking on everybody. This simplified universe she lives in, where all kinds of terrible health problems can be cured with folk medicine (1%) and unicorn farts (the other 99%), is probably a lot happier place than reality.

I would disagree with this. When questioned, she seemed to lack familiarity or knowledge about her own products. I think she's talented at forseeing and manipulating industry trends, but she's not actually interested in the woo beyond what it can do for her bank account.

I'll bet she'll be the first to see a doctor when she has genuine health issues.

It wouldn't surprise me if her insurance against being unable to work -which I am sure she has - mandates seeing a proper physician.

Stop letting companies settle. The fines are simply the "cost of doing business" as they extract a ridiculous amount of money illegally even with the fine.

Fine them 100% of the total revenue during the period of the violation, then fine them 100% of their net revenue until they're in compliance. Watch how quickly companies fix their shit.

This misunderstands the entire purpose settling serves. Settlements are there to avoid litigating cases whose outcomes are more or less a given, which would otherwise be a complete waste of time and effort on the part of everyone involved (both parties, the courtroom, the jurors, etc.). It's a matter of efficiency - it's not about letting folks off easy.

Sure, the penalties are typically lower, but that's because the judicial system wants people to settle. It's an incentive. The system is backlogged enough as is.

If you were to remove settlements from the equation, these companies wouldn't be paying more in fines - they'd be paying nothing, because we'd never get around to actually having the trial.

“It is outrageous that Goop continues to exploit health issues in order to make money.”

Well, that pretty much covers EVERY SINGLE DRUG AD you see on TV all day long.

If you watch any daytime TV, you come away convinced that every single American is suffering from at least 20 serious diseases simultaneously. On some daytime shows (especially on the cable channels) you will see the same drug ad run up 100 times a day.It's a multi-billion $ industry and keeps most of the smaller cable channels in business.

Goop is just a BIT more outrageous than some of these Holistic/Herbal/All-Natural supplement ads, not to mention the slickly produced major pharma ads (just read carefully the side-effects sometimes. No thanks, I'll stick with the disease thank you very much.)

Stop letting companies settle. The fines are simply the "cost of doing business" as they extract a ridiculous amount of money illegally even with the fine.

Fine them 100% of the total revenue during the period of the violation, then fine them 100% of their net revenue until they're in compliance. Watch how quickly companies fix their shit.

This misunderstands the entire purpose settling serves. Settlements are there to avoid litigating cases whose outcomes are more or less a given, which would otherwise be a complete waste of time and effort on the part of everyone involved (both parties, the courtroom, the jurors, etc.). It's a matter of efficiency - it's not about letting folks off easy.

Sure, the penalties are typically lower, but that's because the judicial system wants people to settle. It's an incentive. The system is backlogged enough as is.

If you were to remove settlements from the equation, these companies wouldn't be paying more in fines - they'd be paying nothing, because we'd never get around to actually having the trial.

What you say is true, but the outcomes illustrate the imbalance in power: such a small penalty accompanied with no admission of wrongdoing is about the same as no victory at all. The result was such a joke that they just kept right on doing it, because they'll probably settle again in a few years for next to nothing, again.

There's also this over on the Guardian: "Gwyneth Paltrow’s range of wellness products has been criticised by the head of NHS England who warns that one of the recommended procedures poses a considerable health risk."

"contextual commerce" and "wellness" are the snake oil's of today's world. Marketing makes a ton of $$$ off the gullibility of the masses. There is always someone out there who will buy into it. Marketing surveys and focus groups tell us that 39 out of 40 people will buy into the snake oil for something or other at some point. Somewhere in their minds is this thing of looking for that something that makes them beautiful, or that one pill loose weight, that simple and easy health/wellness, fortune, or something else something convenient something special that something just what they were looking for, that one thing something in the back of their minds, etc... All it takes is to bait the hook to get them and its easy to do that.

I actually, truly believe that Gwyneth believes she's doing a great service for humanity.

It's somewhat akin to spreading the word about the danger of vaccinations.

She undoubtedly resents the intrusion of the authorities on her good works. After all, her mission is to learn about all the latest amazing new health crazes that come to Hollywood and then make them available to the rest of the world.

Who wouldn't benefit from a weekly colonic cleanse? If only the obviously corrupt establishment wouldn't get in her way!

... in which case she is diseased mentally and needs to be committed to the nearest funny farm.

*at least* 2/3rds of the world believes in a fictitious magical being that grants wishes.

Closer to 90% of none of the major religions are right.

It's easy to look at someone else's cult and say "that person is a moron".

I'm reminded of DS9.

Vorta: These fool Bjorans think that the profits are Gods. Cardassian: You think the founders are gods. Vorta: that's different. The Founders *are* gods.

There's also this over on the Guardian: "Gwyneth Paltrow’s range of wellness products has been criticised by the head of NHS England who warns that one of the recommended procedures poses a considerable health risk."

"contextual commerce" and "wellness" are the snake oil's of today's world. Marketing makes a ton of $$$ off the gullibility of the masses. There is always someone out there who will buy into it. Marketing surveys and focus groups tell us that 39 out of 40 people will buy into the snake oil for something or other at some point. Somewhere in their minds is this thing of looking for that something that makes them beautiful, or that one pill loose weight, that simple and easy health/wellness, fortune, or something else something convenient something special that something just what they were looking for, that one thing something in the back of their minds, etc... All it takes is to bait the hook to get them and its easy to do that.

"...39 out of 40 people will buy into the snake oil for something or other at some point."

That's probably about right. In my mind Ars/Beth harping on Goop is low-hanging fruit. CBD oil is the big snake oil of the day.

"and we appreciate their guidance in this matter as we move from a pioneer in this space to an established wellness authority,” Erica Moore, Goop's chief financial officer, said in a statement."

I just don't understand how these people sleep at night knowing their entire existence is at best a benign lie and at worst potentially or actually killing people from toxic shock syndrome or masking heart attack diagnostics.

It wasn't too long ago that Steve Jobs was ribbing John Scully's meaningless existence as a sugar water marketer at Pepsi. Looks like a quaint set of values compared to how Paltrow and Co have industrialized total hokum.

Honestly, anyone who is taking health advice from an Actor probably deserves what they get. Just because someone has been successful in one field doesn't mean they have knowledge or expertise in another. In fact when it comes to Actors a large number of them are probably the least qualified to provide health advice.

Honestly, anyone who is taking health advice from an Actor probably deserves what they get. Just because someone has been successful in one field doesn't mean they have knowledge or expertise in another. In fact when it comes to Actors a large number of them are probably the least qualified to provide health advice.

Part of the problem is that it's not pitched as "health advice from an actor". It's pitched as health advice from qualified experts, which the actress just happens to support and promote because she beliefs in helping to spread "wellness". The pitch itself is a lie, but if someone's ignorant of health care and medicine then it's easy to understand why they don't necessarily see the difference between Paltrow's experts and the ones working for "Big Pharma".

Honestly, anyone who is taking health advice from an Actor probably deserves what they get. Just because someone has been successful in one field doesn't mean they have knowledge or expertise in another. In fact when it comes to Actors a large number of them are probably the least qualified to provide health advice.

Yeah, that's why it would have been stupid to listen to Wilfred Brimley telling you to get checked for die-uh-beetus.

The idea -- and what Paltrow claims -- is that these products are all based on the advice of experts.

The problem is that unlike Mr. Brimley god rest his soul, the "experts" she's talking about are experts in flim-flam.

It's a pity a court cannot order ms. paltrow to take all of her remedies aka snake oil in one day or stop selling them. I suspect it would fix the problem quickly, she'd either croak in the process or come to her senses for her own self preservation and stop selling them. Either way, problem solved.

I actually, truly believe that Gwyneth believes she's doing a great service for humanity.

It's somewhat akin to spreading the word about the danger of vaccinations.

She undoubtedly resents the intrusion of the authorities on her good works. After all, her mission is to learn about all the latest amazing new health crazes that come to Hollywood and then make them available to the rest of the world.

Who wouldn't benefit from a weekly colonic cleanse? If only the obviously corrupt establishment wouldn't get in her way!

Well, so do plenty of other crazy people. But, with them we try not to let them loose on the rest of society. Personally, I think she's merely a scammer laughing all the way to the bank. She knows exactly what she's doing and has no conscience. We've had scammers all through history doing and feeling the same way.

What is always annoying about these settlements is the the company almost always admits no wrongdoing but settles for a payout. Pretty good scam, if you can do it.

Imaging if Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer admitted no wrongdoing, but still were sentenced.

This sort of thing allows corporations to delude consumers and themselves that they did nothing wrong, and it was just pesky regulators and conned consumers doing a shakedown on the poor, innocent corporation.

I mean, we've seen this before with people.

I do apologize for the side track, but since it was mention about "people". Look at all of the "best people" around Trump who plead guilty, who turn around immediately after sentencing and say they weren't guilty at all. They were forced in to a confession of stuff they didn't do. Prosecutors twisted their arm. Etc.

I guess granted they did admit wrong doing and then immediately recant, but...

As sad as it is, I get the vibe that she really does believe in this crap. I wouldn't be surprised if she does use them. What you have is a spoiled movie star with the science education of a county dog catcher trying to push her wishful thinking on everybody. This simplified universe she lives in, where all kinds of terrible health problems can be cured with folk medicine (1%) and unicorn farts (the other 99%), is probably a lot happier place than reality.

Now we know why the coroners exclaimed OMG when they opened her skull in Contagion

Honestly, anyone who is taking health advice from an Actor probably deserves what they get. Just because someone has been successful in one field doesn't mean they have knowledge or expertise in another. In fact when it comes to Actors a large number of them are probably the least qualified to provide health advice.

Part of the problem is that it's not pitched as "health advice from an actor". It's pitched as health advice from qualified experts, which the actress just happens to support and promote because she beliefs in helping to spread "wellness". The pitch itself is a lie, but if someone's ignorant of health care and medicine then it's easy to understand why they don't necessarily see the difference between Paltrow's experts and the ones working for "Big Pharma".

Stop letting companies settle. The fines are simply the "cost of doing business" as they extract a ridiculous amount of money illegally even with the fine.

Fine them 100% of the total revenue during the period of the violation, then fine them 100% of their net revenue until they're in compliance. Watch how quickly companies fix their shit.

This misunderstands the entire purpose settling serves. Settlements are there to avoid litigating cases whose outcomes are more or less a given, which would otherwise be a complete waste of time and effort on the part of everyone involved (both parties, the courtroom, the jurors, etc.). It's a matter of efficiency - it's not about letting folks off easy.

Sure, the penalties are typically lower, but that's because the judicial system wants people to settle. It's an incentive. The system is backlogged enough as is.

If you were to remove settlements from the equation, these companies wouldn't be paying more in fines - they'd be paying nothing, because we'd never get around to actually having the trial.

What you say is true, but the outcomes illustrate the imbalance in power: such a small penalty accompanied with no admission of wrongdoing is about the same as no victory at all. The result was such a joke that they just kept right on doing it, because they'll probably settle again in a few years for next to nothing, again.

The problem there, though, is on what basis do you determine the penalty? Even when you remove the assholes from the equation, there's good arguments to be made both for lower and higher penalties.

And then there's all the inevitable loopholes that will arise, because by raising the penalty, you're also raising the amount of money folks are willing to spend on circumventing the penalty.

I'm not so concerned about the followup being as "kind," though. Courts don't take kindly to this kind of behavior (ignoring orders, settlement terms, etc.), and while I'm sure there's exceptions, the FDA can and will drop a pretty big hammer if they need to.

As sad as it is, I get the vibe that she really does believe in this crap. I wouldn't be surprised if she does use them. What you have is a spoiled movie star with the science education of a county dog catcher trying to push her wishful thinking on everybody. This simplified universe she lives in, where all kinds of terrible health problems can be cured with folk medicine (1%) and unicorn farts (the other 99%), is probably a lot happier place than reality.

Now we know why the coroners exclaimed OMG when they opened her skull in Contagion